Lee Rhiannon (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The community has been resonating with anger about this budget. There have been Bust the Budget rallies all around the country. It is extraordinary that, four months after the budget came down, the anger is still there. At many of these rallies, people have heard from Labor MPs standing up and condemning this government. Time and time again at these rallies they have heard Labor members of parliament speak out against the budget. Yesterday, the government was on the skids with this very ugly part of the budget and this very bad legislation. The attempt by Treasurer Hockey and Prime Minister Abbott, with the support of Liberal and National members of parliament, to load pressure and hardship onto ordinary people, onto disadvantaged people, looked like it was just about over. And what have Mr Shorten and Labor done? The absolute deal of all deals. Talk about a get out of jail free card! They are helping this government, a government that is on the nose, that is so doing the wrong thing to the very fabric of our society by loading problems onto families, people with disabilities, students and so many others who will really have to think about how they are going to make ends meet.

My portfolio of higher education is an area, again, where I have shared many platforms recently with Labor MPs, condemning the government for what they are doing to higher education. In this Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (2014 Budget Measures No. 6) Bill 2014, there are some things that will make life much harder for students. But what have we seen today from Labor? They have just voted it through in the lower house and now they want to rush it through here. This is really extraordinary. Today, 2 October 2014, is a very ugly day now in Labor Party history—a day when they did a deal not just with any Liberal government but with the Abbott Liberal government, a government that within a year of taking office has brought forward some of the most notorious, destructive policies that we have ever seen from a conservative government.

Again, I think it is informative to contrast what Labor are doing today with what they have said. Obviously, when they are speaking at Bust the Budget rallies, they are up there whipping up the crowd about how terrible the government is, that they will stand firm and the budget must be rejected, but they have also got down to specifics. Opposition leader Mr Bill Shorten, on 11 August, actually signed a public pledge which stated:

I, Bill Shorten, pledge that the ALP will block proposed changes to higher education in the senate …

This is a change to higher education that we are dealing with in this social services bill. Yes, there is a big bill that Minister Pyne is spruiking around the place, but there are very significant aspects of this legislation that will bring hardship to many students and that, for many, will be the difference between being able to do their studies and not being able to do their studies, if they can find the course that they want to do at the university that they have chosen. In monetary terms, what the ALP are doing is supporting the coalition's $400 million cuts to student welfare—student welfare in the form of relocation payments and also overseas portability.